East to West: A Surf Journal
Posted on August 24, 2008
Filed Under Surfing | Leave a Comment
a New England surfer heads west. I will be using this space to log my surf experience in and around San Francisco… and beyond. the numbers log the days I have surfed since moving to the area in the autumn of two thousand and eight.
005: Santa Cruz; The Hook
Posted on August 31, 2008
Filed Under Surfing | Leave a Comment
Surfed the Hook (just down from Pleasure Point) on the eastside of Santa Cruz. We headed south from San Francisco to escape the howling NW winds that have been blowing for the last couple days. Which is funny, NW winds are offshore back East so hearing that the wind is from that direction instinctually makes me think of clean surf.
Highway 1… over Devil’s Slide and all the way down to Santa Cruz. Davenport didn’t look great… further in Monterey Bay, it was protected from the wind. But the high tide made Steamer’s almost un-rideable. Off to the east side. Pleasure Point was jammed (it looked like an ant farm) so I hit the Hook. It was decent on the sets (about chest high), but very inconsistent with lots of small stuff in between. Really warm water and that Santa Cruz vibe with people hanging out on the cliff and a pack of old longboarders. Lots of competition for waves, but that’s Santa Cruz on the weekend.
ESPN Fantasy Hall of Fame website… reloaded
Posted on August 31, 2008
Filed Under Design / Work | 4 Comments
This summer at Arnold, we updated the ESPN Fantasy Hall of Fame website for this fall’s NFL season. The Fantasy Hall of Fame is part of a larger integrated campaign to promote ESPN’s Fantasy Football products. We went live last season with the Hall of Fame, a truly integrated campaign (broadcast, web, print) which celebrates unsung and surprise heros of football which end up winning fantasy player’s leagues. Funny stuff all in all.
So, for this year, we did some remodeling of the Hall of Fame website; which we had interactive shop Code and Theory produce last year after we initially concepted it. This year we spruced up some of the graphics, improved the IA, and created a couple new sections. The first are the Smack Plaques, which allow you to talk smack to your fantasy league team-mates in trophy form. We also partnered with Crown Royal, for their own smack-talk section. Another sponsor was Geico, which allowed us to use the Geico Caveman for some TV and web video content, which is also on the site and found it’s way into in rich media video banner ads. So go check it out and send your frenemies a smack plaque right now!
004: Ocean Beach, Kelly’s Cove
Posted on August 28, 2008
Filed Under Surfing | Leave a Comment
This is the northern end of OB; right by the rocks below the cliff house. Was on it early in the morning, only a few guys out. Not the best shape, but it was clean and definitely breaking better than other spots I have surfed so far here. Nice little wedgy peaks on some sets where the NW and SW swells combined had enough power to get some real speed and do some turns. Chest to head high on the sets, super fun. I had a blast, but I am still really out of surf-shape; I am in training (biking, running, surfing) for this fall and winter’s action.
Lots more wildlife again (dolphins, sea lions, jellyfish, pelicans) and this is a pretty dramatic and beautiful setting in the early morning sun. I think this will become a spot I will hit up a lot; especially since we signed a lease on an apartment in outer richmond, just up the hill from Kelly’s. I have to remember to bring my camera, all the shots so far have been done on the iPhone, and that camera leaves a bit to be desired.
003: Ocean Beach, Sloat Ave.
Posted on August 27, 2008
Filed Under Surfing | Leave a Comment
TONS of wildlife here! Dolphins swimming right by me (within 20 feet), sea lions, big jellyfish, diving pelicans, and a couple of other sea-birds I couldn’t identify. I need to dig out my Audobon’s California field guide. So this was my first OB session. Was warm and waves were pretty clean. Still kind of breaking more softly outside and then unloading a bit more inside. Lots of whitewater to battle through. Some of the sets were overhead, and being that far out makes it feel a little bigger. Got some decent rides, but still don’t feel like I’ve really seen what this area truly has to offer surf-wise.
002: Pacifica, Lindamar
Posted on August 26, 2008
Filed Under Surfing | Leave a Comment
I picked up Josie at school at SFSU and we cruised down to Pacifica; we checked Rockaway, but it didn’t look all that great. This was another late in the day short session; similar conditions to the day before, but perhaps a notch bigger in size (shoulder high) and a little cleaner. Still breaking kind of funky though. Sunny again. And crowded!
001: Pacifica, Lindamar
Posted on August 24, 2008
Filed Under Surfing | Leave a Comment
First session since my move to the West Coast was a quickie “get wet” session in Pacifica. This is considered a beginners wave (and it is) but it is a fun, real west coast scene (and vibe) with a mix of all types hanging out at the beach. Lowrider bicycles, Harleys, skate punks, yuppies, and everything in between. Waves had some funky shape to them, but the water was warm and the sun was out and hitting the mountains in back of town real pretty-like. Surf was about chest high with maybe some plus sets, breaking soft outside and then dumping inside. Felt good to wash off the desert dust from the long trip across country.
Cherry Bomb
Posted on August 18, 2008
Filed Under Design / Work | Leave a Comment
I have some artwork in another gallery in NYC. The show is called Cherry Bomb; the opening went well from what I hear… unfortunately I was unable to attend since I was wrestling my iPhone back from a grizzly bear in the Tetons at the time. But I now have bear mace that can shoot 50 feet, so watch out suckas!
The show was put on by Sadie Magazine and Metro Color Collision.
Cross Country
Posted on August 16, 2008
Filed Under Journal | 2 Comments
We are in the middle of a cross country journey… check the map. Right now we are in Colorado after spending a few amazing days at the Possibility Alliance, an experimental new eco-community in Missouri. A more thorough post will come on that later. And I will also get some ‘real’ photos up on Flickr in addition to the geo-located iPhone snapshots uploaded with AirMe (see previous post on that.)
iPhone 3G and AirMe
Posted on August 12, 2008
Filed Under Journal | Leave a Comment
The iPhone 3G can automatically geotag photos, and with this app called AirMe, they can be sent directly to your Flickr account. We’re headed across country from Gloucester, MA to San Francisco; click on the map to see the photos; it will be updated in (near) realtime. Unfortunately, I didn’t download this thing until a day into the trip in Ohio, but it’s working great!
UPDATE, Aug. 16:
The ‘empty’ spots you’ll see on the map are areas with little or no data service. Also, AirMe is a little flukey when driving in and out of service areas, it will keep trying to upload and apparently not realize it has already uploaded a photo successfully. I had the same photo uploaded about 15 times without knowing it!
UPDATE 2, Aug. 22:
The author of the AirMe app has released an update to fix the duplicate uploads. Works much more smoothly now. Also, I’ve learned that if you are in an area with no town nearby, AirMe will just put in “United States” as the area. Given that you are in the U.S. of course.